Canon Ixus 870 IS

A few weeks ago, abonimable criminals stole my iPhone and my semi-broken Casio Exilim Ex-V8. I got my new iPhone two weeks later (it is my favourite toy, after all), but it has taken me some time to find a new smallish camera.

The iPhone has a camera as well, but despite amazing iPhone-photos you can find on the internet, and Ken  Rockwells favourite saying: The best camera is the one you have with you, I have never had much luck taking pictures with it. Enter the Ixus 870 IS (or SD880 for the american market. Don't ask me why Canon insists havin different version numbers for them.), a sweet mid-priced pocket camera (and Rockwells recommendation for it's class).

Why the Ixus and not one of it's siblings? First of all, it has one of the widest angles of it's class (28-112mm in 35mm equivalent) which is important to me, because I like to keep either my 50mm equivalent or a long  lens on my DSLR, and use my pocket camera for landscapes.

Secondly, Rockwell waxed poetic about the interface, and after using it for a few weeks I have to agree. It is very intuitive, nothing (important) is more than two clicks away. How Canon can come up with such a sweet interface while it's DSLRs sucks so much, I don't know.

For the first time I've found an automatic mode that I actually use: The awesome panorama stitching mode, that really helps in shooting panoramas. It keeps the right edge of the previous shot on the left side of the screen, so you can line up your next shot. The Geneva lakeshore panorama from Sunday was shot with it.

The LCD is bright enough to see in full sunlight which is partly due to it's anti-reflection coating. Battery is a removeable Lithium Ion pack, which unfortunately doesn't charge over USB. But it is good for a few hundred shots, so this isn't too much of an issue.

The verdict? Sweet camera. If you need a pocket-sized one, go for it.